The World of The Donoverse Part 3: Columbia (Part 2)

Its been a long time but I think I need to finish this worldbuilding series. Sorry If I keep giving you guys the "Miyazaki" Retirement, been a bit frustrated lately with things. I knew I said I was gonna retire the blog but I still feel that its a better way to convey information. I have still been avoiding editorials though

Human Geography

Columbia’s urban landscape is often compared to Japan, South Korea, or Hong Kong rather than the mainland United States. Its major population centers are concentrated along the coasts, where tall, compact skylines have grown upward instead of outward. Cities are designed for density, efficiency, and everyday convenience, creating a metropolitan environment that feels carefully planned, highly organized, and still comfortable to live in.

Most residents spend their daily lives in large mixed-use complexes that combine housing, retail, transit, and public amenities in a single integrated setting. These complexes often include residential towers with office space, shopping malls on the lower floors, grocery stores, restaurants, entertainment venues, libraries, museums, parking structures, and transit access such as bus terminals, metro stations, and, in some cases, passenger heliports. Some are modest suburban centers, while others function as full downtown districts, and a few still retain old trolley lines preserved from earlier eras.

Surrounding these districts are broad greenbelts that function as both open space and major public parks. Within them are wide lawns, lakes, small forests, playgrounds, sports fields, picnic areas, and walkways for pedestrians and cyclists. In many neighborhoods, older single-family homes were grandfathered in during later urban renewal efforts and have since been adapted into tea houses, cafés, or other local businesses. The result is a cityscape that balances high-density living with generous green space and a strong sense of public life.

Freeways cut across the greenbelts and form the backbone of Columbia’s road network, but they are built to work alongside pedestrian and transit systems rather than dominate them. People usually cross by overpasses or tunnels, and freeway access points connect directly to parking garages and bus stations. Although many families own cars, public transit remains the preferred way to travel within the cities because it is faster, more efficient, and more closely tied to how Columbia’s urban areas are planned.

Columbia includes seven major cities, each with a distinct role in the state’s identity. Columbia City is the largest and serves as the cultural center, Newport City is the second largest and is known as the Bay City or Maritime City, Daytona City is the island’s main tourist destination (often referred to as the "Waikiki" of Columbia), Greenville is the northernmost city (often referred to as the "Sapporo" of Columbia) Fairview is the smallest coastal city, Springdale is the largest inland city, and Middleton is both the state capital and the smallest major city.

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Stay Tuned for part 3